Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, August 18, 2016)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Modal Auxiliary VerbsA modal auxiliary verb is used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention. How many "true" modal auxiliary verbs are there? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Babylonian LawThe study of ancient Babylonian law, supported by thousands of primary sources that include contracts, deeds, and legal decisions, was greatly advanced by the discovery of a set of 282 laws known as the Code of Hammurabi. Created around 1760 BCE by the sixth Babylonian King, Hammurabi, the Code loosely divided the population into three classes and established an "eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth" style of punishment for criminals. What was the penalty for perjury? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Priest Urbain Grandier Burned at the Stake for Witchcraft (1634)Grandier was a 17th-century French Catholic priest who was accused of bewitching the nuns of the Ursuline convent. Although he was acquitted by an ecclesiastical council, Grandier had published scathing criticisms of Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister and virtual ruler of France, who arranged to have him re-tried. Accused of having entered a pact with the devil, Grandier was tortured, found guilty, and burned at the stake. What was presented as evidence of the Grandier's diabolical pact? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Liviu Librescu (1930)A Holocaust survivor, Professor Liviu Librescu had seen more than his fair share of death before April 16, 2007—Holocaust Remembrance Day—when a gunman tried to enter his classroom at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech. Librescu jumped into action, blocking the door to give his students time to escape through the windows. His heroic actions cost him his life; he was shot five times by the gunman. How many of his students did he manage to save? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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(as) mad as a wet hen— Enraged; extremely or inconsolably angry. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Gabon Independence Day (2021)Gabon gained official independence from France on August 17, 1960, after more than a century of domination. August 17 is a public holiday, but celebrations often extend to the days before and after Independence Day, with parades and dancing. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: narrativenarratage - The technique of having one character in the role of storyteller or the act of inserting bits of explanation into a narrative. More... narrative - First an adjective meaning "telling the facts of a story," from Latin narrare, which is also the base of narrate. More... | |